Ross had to stop and compose himself while talking about his son. Louis Ross, the foster parent of missing child Hassani Campbell spoke to the media from the living room of his Fremont home Wednesday August 12, 2009. less

Ross had to stop and compose himself while talking about his son. Louis Ross, the foster parent of missing child Hassani Campbell spoke to the media from the living room of his Fremont home Wednesday August 12, ... more

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Image 3 of 6

The family has a small portrait of Hasanni Campbell they wanted released. Louis Ross, the foster parent of missing child Hassani Campbell spoke to the media from the living room of his Fremont home Wednesday August 12, 2009. less

The family has a small portrait of Hasanni Campbell they wanted released. Louis Ross, the foster parent of missing child Hassani Campbell spoke to the media from the living room of his Fremont home Wednesday ... more

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Image 4 of 6

Louis Ross, foster father of missing 5-year-old Hasanni Campbell, holds a photograph of Hasanni while addressing the media during a vigil in back of the store where he was supposedly last seen, Shuz of Rockridge. in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, August 17, 2009. less

Louis Ross, foster father of missing 5-year-old Hasanni Campbell, holds a photograph of Hasanni while addressing the media during a vigil in back of the store where he was supposedly last seen, Shuz of ... more

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

Image 5 of 6

Foster mother Jennifer Campbell, who was held in connection with missing 5 year old child Hasanni Campbell during a vigil in Rockridge, Calif., on Monday, August 31, 2009.

Foster mother Jennifer Campbell, who was held in connection with missing 5 year old child Hasanni Campbell during a vigil in Rockridge, Calif., on Monday, August 31, 2009.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Image 6 of 6

Foster mother Jennifer Campbell (middle), held in connection with missing 5 year old child Hasanni Campbell during a vigil in Rockridge, Calif., on Monday, August 31, 2009.

Foster mother Jennifer Campbell (middle), held in connection with missing 5 year old child Hasanni Campbell during a vigil in Rockridge, Calif., on Monday, August 31, 2009.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Missing boy's foster dad released - no charges

1 / 6

Back to Gallery

The foster father of Hasanni Campbell will not face criminal charges at this time, a prosecutor said Tuesday, even as police declared that they "know for a fact" that his story of how the 5-year-old Fremont boy disappeared is false.

The Alameda County district attorney's office said it did not have enough evidence against Louis Ross, 38, to build a case that he murdered Hasanni. Assistant District Attorney Tom Rogers, who made the announcement, declined to elaborate but said Oakland police are still investigating. He was released Tuesday evening.

The decision came a day after Rogers said there would be no charges brought against Ross' fiancee and the boy's foster mother, Jennifer Campbell, 33. Campbell, who is six months pregnant with Ross' child, was arrested Friday on suspicion of being an accessory to murder, the same day Ross was booked on suspicion of murder.

Campbell left Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on Monday afternoon and went straight to a vigil for Hasanni outside the shoe store in Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood where Ross said he last saw his foster son Aug. 10.

Campbell proclaimed the couple's innocence, saying they were "both accused of a crime we didn't do."

Ross reported that the boy, who has cerebral palsy, vanished from outside a back entrance to the Shuz of Rockridge store on College Avenue where Campbell, the boy's aunt, works.

But at a news conference Tuesday, acting Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan made it clear that investigators don't believe Ross' account of events.

"We strongly believe, and we know for a fact, that Hasanni Campbell never made it to Oakland on Aug. 10 to College Avenue at 4:15 as was previously reported," Jordan said.

Police released a DVD and photos showing Hasanni, his 1-year-old sister, Ross and Campbell shopping at a Walmart in Fremont on Aug. 6. The images were taken from store surveillance cameras.

Officer Jeff Thomason, a police spokesman, said the Walmart trip is "the last time that we have independent information about Hasanni Campbell being alive."

Jordan said while it was unfortunate that prosecutors "did not find it fit" to charge either Ross or Campbell, he respects their decision.

However, he added, "We are continuing to put our efforts into solving this case and potentially rearresting Mr. Louis Ross or Jennifer Campbell."

Ross had been held without bail at Santa Rita Jail since his arrest. John Burris, an attorney who has been consulting with the couple, said he is not surprised that prosecutors opted not to file charges.

"There never was evidence linking him to a crime," Burris said. "At best, there was some suspicion that the police may have had, but that suspicion wasn't supported by any evidence. So I think now the attention should go back toward finding Hasanni. It was a travesty that these two people were subjected to this kind of humiliation without just cause."

Burris disputed the chief's assertions that Hasanni was never in Oakland at the time Ross reported him missing. "How do they know that for a fact?" he said.

Friends of the couple plan to search for Hasanni on Saturday at Lake Elizabeth in Fremont.

"The focus should be finding this missing boy," said Campbell's mother, Pamela Clark, 62, of San Francisco. She said of the attention on the couple, "It's like a terrible witch hunt."

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.